


My Hero Persona

by Derpyfirp



Category: Persona Series, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Genderbending, He Unlocks Personas as the Story Progresses, Hero Department Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari and Jirou went to Aldera, Midoriya Izuku Has a Persona, Midoriya Izuku Has the Fool Arcana, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, U.A. is a University (My Hero Academia), prone to editing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:36:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28439982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Derpyfirp/pseuds/Derpyfirp
Summary: After passing out when All Might saves him from the Sludge Villain, Izuku wakes up naked in a bedroom of velvet colors, in front of a man with a long nose."Welcome to the Velvet Room."All rights to My Hero Academia go to Kohei Horikoshi. All rights to the Persona franchise go to Atlus and ASCII Entertainment. Please support the official releases!
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 15
Kudos: 37





	1. Welcome to the Velvet Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Velvet Room lasts into the world of My Hero Academia. And Izuku Midoriya is the next guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back finally!
> 
> It took a bit of time, but I figured out which fanfiction idea I wanted to use. Since I'm a fan of both MHA and the Persona franchise, I figured, why not combine the two? Make some of my own personas? Stuff like that.
> 
> But since this is a new series, and not _Solid Light_ , I have a new disclaimer for this series:
> 
> All rights to My Hero Academia belong to Kohei Horikoshi. All rights to the Persona franchise belong to Atlus and ASCII Entertainment. Please support the official release!

_Where am I?_

He knew this bed wasn’t his. His bed wasn’t queen-sized, nor did it have a canopy above it like this one. The sheets were also a velvet blue instead of his regular green covers, and felt too smooth and light to be practical for sleeping at night.

Not like he was asleep to begin with. The last thing he remembered was being attacked by a villain made out of some liquid before someone blasted the villain with a blast of wind that might as well have been cannon fire, and he had been caught in the collateral.

_Maybe someone found me and took me here to rest?_

He sat up and glanced around. The bedroom’s interior was draped heavily in velvet. The walls, the ceiling, the rug, the bed’s canopy, the drapes hanging from the windows… all were different shades of blue or purple. The only thing that didn’t fit that pattern was the mahogany desk at the foot of the bed and the wooden chair tucked into it.

As he took in his surroundings, he caught an important detail out of the corner of his eye: his bare shoulder. He had been outside when that villain attack happened, wearing his school uniform and a backpack. Now he wasn’t wearing either.

The boy peeked under the covers. No pants or underwear, nor shoes or socks. He was completely naked.

A dark shade of red spread across his face. He didn’t even know who his host was, and they had completely undressed him! They saw everything – even the bruises and burn marks his peers gave him!

 _Whoever you are,_ he prayed, _please don’t tell anyone. Kacchan can’t be a hero if the law finds out._

“Ah, it seems our guest is awake.”

The boy shot his gaze toward the ominous voice at the doorway, pulling the covers up to cover his bony chest, and his eyes were greeted by a balding old man with a hunched frame, wearing a tuxedo and an overly toothy grin. His beady eyes seemed to stare directly into the boy’s soul, and his lanky limbs seemed too small to hold him upright – though he seemed to be walking just fine.

The man’s most prominent feature, however, was his absurdly long nose; it almost reached out to his chest. And the nose hairs at its base, though barely visible, were just as white as the hair that surrounded his otherwise bare scalp.

_That nose has to be his quirk._

The man gave a low bow as he walked in. “Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor; I am delighted to make your acquaintance.”

The boy in the bed gave Igor a timid wave, his heart backing into his spine. “H-Hi, Igor-san… I’m… I’m Izuku Midoriya…”

Igor’s grin widened. “Midoriya-kun, hm? An intriguing name for one with an intriguing destiny.”

Izuku let out a nervous chuckle and glanced around. “So, what is this place?”

Igor strolled over to the desk with a surprising amount of poise for someone with such a hunched frame. “This room is the space between dreams and reality, mind and matter.” He pulled the chair back and sat down, interlocking his fingers and placing his chin just above them. “You yourself have effectively been knocked unconscious, and –”

Izuku dropped the covers and slammed his hands down beside him on the mattress; the only thing keeping him from jumping out of bed completely was his nudity. “I’m unconscious?!” His breath hitched, and tears began to well in his eyes, though they were small for the size of the tears he normally sheds. “Then… that villain…”

“Do not be alarmed.” Igor waved a hand as if to shove the unsaid notion aside. “You are quite alive, and will soon awaken without injury. I have simply summoned you from within your dreams.”

Izuku’s breath slowed and lost a great amount of its tension, though some of it still remained. “That… helps…” He unconsciously glanced down at the covers. “It also explains why I’m naked.”

As Igor let out an amused chuckle, Izuku’s mind wandered back to something Igor had just said. Soon, his once cowering eyes had fixated on Igor in curiosity. “But if I could backtrack a bit –” he said this with more confidence than he knew he had – “you said something about my destiny?”

“Yes, your destiny is quite intriguing.” Igor reached down and opened a desk drawer. “Tell me, do you believe in fortune telling?”

Izuku raised an eyebrow, unsure how to feel about where this conversation was heading. “I’ve… never thought about it, honestly.”

“I’ve always found it quite fascinating.” Igor pulled out a large deck of cards with the depiction of a blank-faced sun on the back, patterned white and navy in rectangles that were just too long in one direction to be squares. “Each reading is done with the same deck of cards, yet the result is always different.” He began shuffling the deck and gave an ominous chuckle. “Life itself follows the same principles, does it not?”

Izuku gave an apprehensive chuckle and began to rub the back of his neck. “I… guess it does, huh…”

Igor began to shuffle the tarot deck. “You said you had never thought about it, correct?” he asked. “Tell me, would you like a reading? It may provide you with some insight to your future.”

Izuku’s eyes wandered from Igor to the tarot deck in his hands as he considered the offer. Igor may have been a bit odd and was certainly off-putting, but he seemed friendly enough. And his mom always told him to try new things; this reading would certainly count. Besides, even if he didn’t like what he would see, at least he would know before it happened and could take steps to deal with it.

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, I would.”

Igor’s grin widened. “Very well. Let’s begin with a reading about your near future.” With a single flourish of his hand, three cards were laid out before him in a row. “These cards I have spread before me will summarize your future’s major events.” He placed a hand on the card to his left. “Let’s begin with a simple one: what will happen to you over the course of the remainder of the day?”

Igor flipped the card over to reveal the image of a crescent moon, with a curving aquamarine road flanked by teal edges set as the background. It faced him. “The card representing your immediate future – almost as soon as you wake up, in fact – is the Moon, in the reversed position.” His smile waned slightly as he pressed his finger pads together. “Hmm… the Moon Arcana represents ‘fear’ and ‘mystery’, but when reversed… it seems whatever you need to ask will be answered, but you will not like the response.”

Izuku let out a sharp breath through his nose. He could already hear the “response” ringing in his ears: _“You can’t become a hero.”_ He had heard it so many times before because he didn’t have a quirk like the vast majority of society, but not a single bone in his body wanted to believe it. The idea of a quirkless hero only sounds insane because it hasn’t been done before; he could still prove them wrong! He had built his body up since the day he learned he was quirkless, trained in parkour and multiple forms of combat, and studied every aspect of quirkology he could, just so he could step foot into the hero world.

“The card representing the future soon after that is –” Igor flipped the next card over, revealing the silhouette of a woman walking alongside a lion, with the image of a sun in the upper corner – “Strength, in the upright position.” Igor’s fanatical grin returned. “This card represents ‘strength’, obviously, but also ‘courage’ and ‘compassion’. At some point today, you will find courage you didn’t know you had – most likely the courage to save another under the direst of circumstances, if my knowledge of the outside world today is correct.”

Izuku’s eyes lit up. He knew they were wrong! If the cards were right, then he _can_ become a hero! Even after sixteen years, they still couldn’t take away his dream!

 _But… what if that’s the question I need answered?_ Izuku couldn’t help but let that thought creep into his head, his face falling as he did so. _The one where I won’t like what I find?_

“And the future after that is represented by…” Igor flipped the final card over, revealing the image of a broadsword pointing toward him in the center of a circle divided into twelve sections, with an imp above the tip of the blade and a snake crawling beneath the hilt. “Ooh. Fortune, in the upright position.” The corners of Igor’s mouth were mere centimeters away from his ears at this point. “This is the card that shows a possible turning point in one’s life, often through an offer made by another. If I’m being honest, it’s one of my personal favorite cards.” Igor interlocked his fingers and stared intently at the Fortune card. “Tell me, how happy would you say you’ve felt as a whole in the past year? On a scale of one to ten?”

Izuku reflected on every day he could remember from the past year. Being present for the debut of new heroes like Mount Lady was always a blessing, and he’s gotten to do that quite a few times this past year. His mom was a wonderful woman whom he will always be grateful for, and she was there for him every day. Any stranger who noticed him observing his hero notes or building up muscle at the gym had always told him they believed in him, which was always nice to hear.

However, things started to turn sour when he got to the people who knew he was quirkless. The people who saw him almost every day – especially his once best friend and crush, current biggest bully, Katsumi Bakugo. They had once promised each other that they would be heroes together, but ever since his diagnosis, she had led her peers in attacking him daily, both physically and emotionally. She even used her quirk on him _in public,_ , creating the burn marks on his chest and stomach that not even his mom knew about. Experiencing that level of bullying every day for over ten years built a lot of terror inside him, and though studying and critiquing heroes and quirks helped alleviate the pain, it also made it obvious that he still wanted to be a hero, with kept the door open for more pain to come.

Igor let out a soft hum, as though reading the answer off his further sinking face. “Well, it seems the cards are telling you this: after you wake up, you will be told a harsh truth you will not wish to hear. However, by the end of the day, you will find your inner courage, and a life-changing opportunity will arise for you – but it will be up to you to decide whether or not you take it."

Izuku’s heart sank upon hearing the final verdict. If the Moon represented what he thought it would, then he didn’t know whether he would want to continue living at all. His whole life revolved around hero work and the idea of helping others; he didn’t know what else to do with his life at this point.

_I guess… I might be able to figure that out today, at least…_

The sound of footsteps pulled Izuku out of his thoughts and toward the doorway just in time to see a young, petite-framed woman with a silver ponytail and young golden eyes, dressed in a royal blue maid outfit with black embow-length gloves, thigh-high stockings, and black heels. Just the sight of the woman brought a crimson hue to Izuku’s face as every muscle in his body tensed up.

“Master, is our guest awake yet?” The woman’s entire face seemed to light up upon seeing Izuku in the bed, nearly causing her to bounce. “Oh, you are! Hi! I’m Janice. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while.”

Izuku pulled the covers over his head as Janice addressed him, hiding his blush from view and barely preventing his brain from short-circuiting. “A girl is talking to me! A girl’s talking to me and she’s excited about it! Why is a girl so excited to talk to me?! No, wait, everyone I know says I’m nothing special, but she doesn’t know me; maybe that’s a good thing? But wouldn’t that mean I should keep my distance? She’d be disappointed if I did that, right? Maybe I could –”

Igor let out another amused chuckle as Izuku continued mumbling faster than either he or Janice could keep up. “It seems our guest might need some time adjusting to you, Janice-chan. Perhaps you can tone down the excitement for now?”

Janice let out a groan. “Fine, I’ll try to be normal.”

“Thank you, Janice-chan. Regardless –” Igor’s words finally broke him out of his muttering session and brought his attention over the covers – “we will attend to the details another time. For now, farewell.”

Izuku felt his energy leave him at that moment. It didn’t leave all at once, but it was sudden and uncomfortable. His eyelids felt like barbells before he even knew what was going on, and by the time he figured it out, he had collapsed onto the bed, feeling the weight of an elephant in each shoulder.

It didn’t take long for him to drift off from there.

~~~

“ **Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.** ”

That was the first thing Izuku registered. The second was the light slaps against his face, clearly meant to wake him up rather than hurt him. The third was that the extra weight on his eyelids and in his shoulders had disappeared, and that he had a decent amount of energy back.

 _What a weird dream,_ Izuku thought. _I woke up in a huge bed, an old guy with a long nose read my fortune, a girl was actually excited to meet me…_ His eyes cracked open, registering the light of day. _I kinda want to have it again, honestly. If only for the girl._

Izuku soon registered a giant of a man in a white t-shirt and cargo pants leaning over him, arm outstretched toward his cheek. Two clumps of golden hair stuck directly up from his otherwise slicked-back hairdo, and his face and body were absolutely chiseled. But the thing that stuck out the most to Izuku was the man’s brilliant smile – the same smile that was shown on posters everywhere.

The man stood up and saluted Izuku with the hand that had been tapping him. “ **Ah! Thought we lost you there!** ”

Izuku’s brain froze, locking his eyes open and his jaw agape. _All Might?!_

“ **Sorry about that!** ” All Might boomed. “ **I try to keep civilians out of the line of fire when I’m heroing! I tried to be precise about my aim there, but I think he used you as a human shield at the last minute. Clever bastard.** ” He held up a two-liter bottle filled with a familiar sentient, sickly sludge. “ **But it’s okay now! The villain has been captured and you seem to be okay!** ” His eyebrows furrowed in concern as he noticed that Izuku hadn’t moved since he woke, save for his ever-increasing breath rate. “ **You _are_ okay, right?**”

Izuku leapt to his feet. “OH MY GOD! IT’S ALL MIGHT IN THE FLESH!”

All Might let out a roar of boisterous laughter. “ **I suppose I can take that as a yes! Good to hear!** ”

Izuku glanced around for the notebook he had dropped when the sludge villain had attacked, and found it on the ground next to him. It was as singed as when Bakugo had exploded the front cover and thrown it out the school window earlier that day, and much drier than when he had found it in the fountain by the school.

Izuku grabbed the notebook and flipped it over to the last page. “Please, sign my –” Before he finished the sentence, he noticed two words in American cursive printed on the inside of the back cover. “AAAH! YOU ALREADY DID!” He began bowing deeply and profusely. “Thank you so much! This will be passed down for generations! It’ll be an heirloom!”

All Might’s laughter continued. “ **I’m glad you like it, young man!** ” He glanced down and gave Izuku a thumbs up. “ **By the way, those notes of yours are incredible! There are some things even I didn’t think of in there!** ”

Izuku’s eyes lit up at the praise. “Seriously?”

“ **Yes, seriously.** ” He raised a hand with a fully bent elbow, one finger pointed up. “ **Which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. If those notes fell into the wrong hands, it could spell disaster. I’d recommend rewriting them using shorthand or something similar. That way you can read and share your notes, but anyone else that reads them will have a hard time deciphering them.** ”

Izuku glanced down at the notebook again. If the notes really were that detailed, then All Might made a good point. It hadn’t occurred to him that a villain could try to get their hands on them if they knew about them, but now that he thought about it, that could spell the end of some of the heroes he wrote about.

“Oh, okay! I’ll be sure to do that when I get home!” Izuku packed the notebook away and zipped up his backpack, a sincere smile on his face.

Then he recalled the ever-growing list of questions he had wanted to ask All Might ever since he had heard about him. What exactly was his quirk? Who was the toughest villain he ever had to face? What does it mean to be a hero? But most importantly…

_I have to know. I absolutely have to know._

“All Might –” his voice turned somber – “can I ask you some things?”

All Might let out a grunt that sounded very unlike his jovial and upbeat personality, causing Izuku to glance up at him. He seemed to be clutching his side for some reason. 

_A stomach problem, maybe?_ Izuku reasoned. _I mean, he’s getting old, so –_

“ **I’m sorry, young man** –” he spoke hurriedly as he saluted once more – “ **but there’s no time! I must be off! Good luck in your future endeavors!** ”

Izuku’s breath hitched. “No, wait! There’s so much I want to ask you!”

But All Might didn’t wait. He had already crouched in preparation to leap a great distance, as he does so often. So Izuku didn’t think.

He just grabbed All Might’s leg as he jumped.

The next thing he knew, he found himself soaring a thousand meters in the air, with only his death grip on All Might’s leg keeping him from falling to his demise. He couldn’t help but scream as he looked down a couple seconds in, drawing All Might’s attention.

“ **Hey, hey! What are you doing?!** ” All Might reached down and tried to push Izuku off of him, clearly holding back as he did. “ **Let go of me, young man! I love my fans, but this is too much!** ”

“ARE YOU KIDDING?!” Izuku shouted. “WE’RE A KILOMETER IN THE AIR! I’LL DIE IF I LET GO NOW!”

All Might pulled his arms back from pushing Izuku off. “ **Ah! That’s a good point!** ”

All Might lowered down to a flat-roofed skyscraper in the business section of Musutafu, two kilometers away from his neighborhood. As soon as they landed, Izuku released All Might’s leg and fell to his knees, clutching his chest as he caught his breath.

“ **Seriously, young man, what were you thinking?** ” All Might chastised. “ **You could have gotten yourself killed there! You’re lucky your grip is so strong; I’m still having trouble redirecting myself midair, so even I might not have been able to save you if you had let go!** ”

“Sorry,” Izuku said between pants, “but… there’s just so much I have to ask you.”

All Might turned away. “ **I’m sorry young man, but like I said, there’s no time. A villain could strike any second.** ” He crouched into another leaping stance.

“Can a quirkless person be a hero?!”

Izuku had blurted that out without thinking. It was the question he wanted – no, _needed_ – the answer to the most. No one else believed in him. Even his determination had its limits, and they were reaching them; he had to hear it from him.

Thankfully, the question was enough to give All Might enough pause to stop him from leaping away a second time. It even drew his attention toward Izuku a bit. “ **Quirkless…?** ”

Izuku pushed himself to his feet. “Ever since I was a kid, I had always wanted to be a hero like you – someone who saves people with a smile, no matter what happens to him. I’ve trained my entire life for it, even after learning I was quirkless.” His eyes began to water. “But everyone I know just laughs at me. They tell me I wouldn’t be able to do anything, and that I was crazy for even thinking about it. One even suggested I kill myself and pray for a quirk in my next life.”

Izuku made sure not to specify that Bakugo had said that. Sure, she had been horrible to him since she had gotten her quirk, but he knew the only thing that would keep her from being a hero was the path of villainy; he would much rather see her become a hero than a villain.

“I’ve been able to brush it away for over ten years, but it’s finally beginning to eat at me now. Not even my mom believes in me.” He glanced up, tears already rolling down his face. “So I have to hear it from you: can I still become a hero even though I’m quirkless?!”

But All Might wasn’t there anymore. Another man stood there in his place – or a skeleton of one, with a long chin and dark bags under his eyes. His hair, though a similar shade of gold, was wild and untamed, and though he wore the same clothes, they sagged off of his much lankier frame. Steam rose off of his body, as though he had overheated.

But what gave it away for the most part was that he wasn’t smiling. His mouth had formed into a thin line, with little space there for his teeth to show.

Izuku took a step back and pointed at the stranger, shaking in horror. “You… you’re not All Might! You’re a fake! An imposter! Where’s the real one?!”

The man gave a deep sigh, allowing his shoulders to sag. “I assure you, kid –” he hacked up a glob of blood mid-sentence and allowed it to fall at his feet before he continued – “I’m the real All Might.”


	2. Moon Reversed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku learns the truth that was foretold, but a conversation with himself spares his dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All rights to My Hero Academia go to Kohei Horikoshi. All rights to the Persona franchise go to Atlus and ASCII Entertainment. Please support the official release!

Izuku was still dreaming. He had to be.

He couldn’t find any other explanation as to how All Might, a man with more power than two-thirds of the heroes in Japan combined, just turned so _feeble_ right before his eyes.

He slapped himself as hard as he could, just to be sure. The sharp sting on his cheek lingered much longer than he would have liked – a sure sign that this was reality – and it allowed a chill to run through his core.

“Who… what… how…” Izuku couldn’t find a conclusion to any of his questions; what do you even say when your entire life turns upside down?

“It’s the truth, kid,” All Might continued, breaking the awkward silence. “You know how a lot of guys suck in their stomach when they’re at the beach so they can show off? My quirk is kind of like that.”

Izuku finally found the remnants of his voice. “But… but All Might always has a brilliant smile on his face! That’s his trademark – he always saves people with a smile, no matter what happens to him! Why don’t you have one?!”

“There’s a lot of fear behind that smile, kid.” All Might opened his mouth to say more, but seemed to register the question at the end only now. He let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “I’m going to show you something –” he sat down on the roof – “but I need you to promise me you won’t tell anyone about it.”

Izuku nodded. “Of course. Not a soul.”

All Might lifted his shirt, and Izuku couldn’t help but let out a gasp and recoil. There, engulfing the left side of his torso, was a giant scar that seemed to have tried to heal, but couldn’t manage it. A dent near the hip seemed to be the origin point that the cracks that spread over the rest of his torso came from. The left side of his ribcage was slightly caved in, and it seemed to barely hold itself together. Just looking at it made Izuku sick to his stomach, but his eyes refused to avert their gaze.

“Pretty gross, right?” All Might asked. “I got this scar from a powerful villain five years ago. It obliterated my left kidney, my stomach, a lung, and half my diaphragm. If it was any higher, it would have nicked my heart, and I wouldn’t have survived recovery.” He lowered his shirt. “Thanks to this injury, I can only be a hero for about three hours a day now. The rest of the time, I look like this.”

“Five years ago…” Izuku, having partially gotten over his initial shock from seeing the wound, began to think of any villain powerful enough to injure All Might that appeared within that time frame. His mind immediately found one suspect. “That was your fight against Toxic Chainsaw, right?”

All Might let out a soft chuckle. “Given those notes of yours, I probably shouldn’t be surprised you know that. But no; he’s powerful, but he’s got nothing on me even in my injured state.” His expression grew somber. “The villain that did this was so powerful that the mere knowledge of his existence could throw hero society into disarray. I managed to defeat him, but he wasn’t captured. So I pulled every string I had to make sure no one knew about the fight.” He crinkled the corner of his mouth. “If someone like you didn’t know about it, it must have worked.”

Izuku cringed. There’s a villain that powerful out there? Strong enough to dismantle society just by _appearing_? There was no way the heroes, let alone himself, could face that kind of opponent!

_Wait, does this mean…?_

All Might pushed himself to his feet. “Heroes are always risking their lives to save others, and it’s noble that you’re willing to do the same. But with villains this powerful out there…” He shook his head, his eyes dull. “I’m sorry, young man. I truly wish I could say otherwise, but there’s no way you can be a hero without a quirk.”

The words pierced through Izuku’s heart like an arrow. He had heard them so many times before, and he could normally shrug them off. But when they came from someone he admired so much, in such an empathetic way, and with physical proof on his body to back it up…

He couldn’t help but believe it.

“If you really want to help others, you could become a police officer or a detective,” All Might suggested. “They don’t get as good a rap as heroes do, but they’re just as vital to society as heroes are, and those notes tell me you’d be good at it. And they often work alongside heroes, so you could still get some experience in the hero world that way.”

Izuku’s eyes remained glazed over. This was it. His dreams just crumbled before him with eleven simple words – words he’s heard over and over that hadn’t even fazed him for nine years, and only started to affect him at the tenth. He appreciated All Might’s suggestion, but it was a moot point; how would he save people from active villains and natural disasters if he was a police officer?

All Might placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder as he walked by him, but Izuku barely registered it. “Believe me, it hurts me to say that as much as it hurts you to hear it. But if it’s between shattering your dreams now or watching you die later… I’d rather you lived.” He walked away on that note, heading through the door to the stairwell and leaving it open.

**| | | _TRIGGER WARNING! IF YOU HAVE EVER HAD SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, SKIP TO THE NEXT TEXT THAT STANDS OUT THIS MUCH!_ | | |**

Izuku stood unmoving on the roof for what felt like hours, but could have been only a second for all he knew. His eyes were glazed over the whole time, his vision blurry, his heart shattered with no hope of mending. 

The ledge of a building never looked so inviting.

Izuku began walking toward the building’s edge. Every jeer and insult people threw at him echoed in his ears.

_Man, you really are a Deku, aren’t you?_

_What a loser. Can’t even stand up for himself._

_Does he seriously think he has a future as a hero? He must have lost his last brain cell._

Izuku was halfway there. His own mother’s response to his query joined the cacophony.

_I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!_

Izuku pushed forward until his toes dangled off the roof. The last sentence Bakugo had said to him began dancing through his mind.

_Your best chance of being a hero is to take a swan dive off the roof and pray for a quirk in your next life!_

Izuku looked down at the street below. The people walking along it looked like ants from this high up; none of them were going to notice him until he actually fell. He closed his teary eyes and braced himself.

One final voice emerged in his mind, drowning out every other noise within:

_I’d rather you lived._

That last sentence from All Might gave Izuku pause; it may have been the only thing that kept him from taking that final step. Despite his quirklessness, despite having crushed his dreams not even a minute beforehand… All Might said he wanted him to live.

Izuku’s eyes fluttered open. “Live, huh?” More tears began to roll down his cheeks. The sentence contradicted everything else All Might had said; living is different from being alive. He’d need to do what he’s passionate about – heroism – to truly live. But without a quirk…

**| | | _TRIGGER WARNING END._ | | |**

Before Izuku could decide whether he would continue or back away, he felt something land on his shoulder. He glanced over to see a florescent blue butterfly, wings folding in and out. He didn’t know much about the butterflies in the area, but this one clearly wasn’t native.

Izuku noticed a trail of blue light dancing behind it as it lifted off his shoulder and fluttered around him slowly. Something about the sight and the attention from this insect helped him breathe slower, think clearer, and feel… better. Better than he had felt in a long time.

He heard another voice inside his head – one he did not recognize.

**_“Will you truly give up so easily?”_ **

Izuku nearly lost his footing, but he caught it as he stumbled back onto the building. He hadn’t heard that question in his life from anyone, especially not from a voice so deep as that. Was he hearing things?

**_“You had heard those words for ten years straight, from many different people. People you admire as much as All Might. Yet you persisted in your dream, because you knew it was possible – far more difficult, but possible. What makes this time any different?”_ **

Izuku glanced toward the butterfly. This had to have been something supernatural. “Wh-who are you? _What_ are you?!”

The butterfly began to float in front of him, landing on the ledge he had stood on only seconds earlier. A flash of light appeared where it landed, causing Izuku to shut his eyes and recoil for a moment. When he looked back he saw…

Himself.

There was no doubt about it; that was him he was looking at. The same mess of green hair; the same slender frame; the same diamond pattern of freckles on the cheeks; the same blue blazer, slacks, and unkempt tie that made up his high school uniform. The only real difference was the blank expression, and the eyes that gleamed gold – the same gold that the girl from his dream had shone.

The other Izuku spoke once more. **_“I am your shadow; the true self.”_**

Izuku cringed upon seeing the words come from this self’s mouth – partially because whatever this thing was, there was no way it was him; but mostly because a voice that deep didn’t sound right when it passed through his lips.

**_“You admire Katsumi Bakugo as much as you admire All Might, do you not?”_** the other Izuku asked. **_“She is your symbol of victory, just as All Might is your Symbol of Peace. But her words were much more consistent, and far more harsh, than any other voice you have heard.”_** The “shadow”, as it called itself, stepped off the ledge and toward Izuku, causing him to back away. **_“Even so, your dream lived on for your whole life, barely so much as waning over the past year. All Might’s words should mean nothing; why do they weigh you down?”_**

Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Wouldn’t you know if you’re me?”

**_“I do know,”_** the shadow replied, **_“but alas, I am merely a piece of your subconscious; I am not the whole you.”_**

“A piece of my subconscious…” Izuku’s eyes glistened with joy. “You’re my quirk! I _do_ have a quirk!”

**_“Not at all,”_** the shadow countered. **_“The subconscious is not genetic like a quirk is; everyone’s is vastly unique. It is unfortunate, but you are quirkless.”_**

Izuku’s heart sank again, but the comment took him aback. “Huh? Then –”

The shadow sat down on the ledge. **_“But back to my point,”_** it interrupted. **_“Look deep. Why do the words mean so little when they come from others? Why do they mean so little when they came even from Kacchan?”_**

Izuku still had no idea how his subconscious was manifesting in front of him if it wasn’t a quirk, but he nevertheless pondered the question for as long as he believed he could. He didn’t think he’d discover why he would feel so determined to follow his dream when one of his heroes shut him down but so willing to give it up when his other did, but if his own mind was telling him to, he might as well listen, right?

“Well,” he began, believing talking it out would help him, “Kacchan and I were friends before we got our quirks. We did basically everything together – video games, exploring, eating lunch… we even had sleepovers with each other. But… she changed when she got her quirk. She started to berate me all the time, saying I’d never be a hero and that I wasn’t worth her time.” Izuku felt his heart sink once more. “I guess… I guess I was waiting for my other hero to say something different…”

The shadow nodded a little, but crinkled the corner of its mouth upon hearing the last sentence. **_“Why?”_**

Izuku opened his mouth to try to get the words out, but nothing came out but air. He tried again, and again, and failed both times. What did it mean “why”?

On the fourth attempt however, he finally managed to come up with something. “Because… I promised I’d be a hero…”

The shadow nodded again. **_“And who did you make that promise to?”_**

It took a moment, but his eyes quickly widened in realization as he remembered. “Kacchan. I promised Kacchan I’d be a hero despite my quirklessness; that’s when the bullying started.”

He began pacing on the roof, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. “I was horrified that she’d throw away our friendship like that, but then she began to hurt others, saying their quirks weren’t strong enough. I thought if I could get stronger – if I could fight, move, and think quickly even without a quirk – I could get her respect back. But the longer that went on, the less I believed she’d ever respect me again; did I think that getting confirmation from All Might could have restored our friendship?”

The rest of the words got caught in Izuku’s mouth. That promise… that was a major reason why he wanted to be a hero. Yes, he wanted to save others; that was the main reason. But the way Bakugo spat the word “weak” at him made him believe she had lost all respect for him. He had to get stronger to get that respect back. Strong enough to be a hero.

**_“It seems you finally figured it out.”_** The shadow’s reply caught Izuku’s attention, snapping him out of his muttering fit. **_“So now I can bring this up: you have the build of some heroes with quirks that don’t help them in fights, and as much experience as someone your age can have. In a way, you are just as strong as her.”_** the shadow leaned forward, elbows on its knees. **_“So why would she call you weak?”_**

Izuku’s breath hitched. He had thought about that sentence every day, and could only come up with unfortunate answers. But not one of them were absolutely certain.

“I… don’t know,” he finally said. “I ask myself that all the time, but… I can’t put my finger on it at all. I just… I just know she hates me.”

The shadow’s eyes narrowed. **_“I will not accept cop-out answers like that. Why does she hate you? Give me every possibility.”_**

Izuku shut his eyes tight in disbelief. He knew that whatever this thing was, it was trying to help him somehow, but why did it have to hurt so much? His ego was already busted as it is; it didn’t need to be punctured anymore.

His breath grew heavier, and tears began to well in his eyes, as he gave every answer he could come up with. “Because she wants to be the only hero from this city, and my desire is ruining that. Because she thinks I’m trying to belittle her quirk by effectively saying ‘even a quirkless person can become a hero’. Because she thinks I’m an idiot; she hates idiots. Because –”

**_“Hold that thought,”_** the shadow interrupted. **_“The first two were acceptable, but that last one is another cop-out. Why would she think you’re an idiot?”_**

Izuku felt a growl rise up in his throat, and felt his clenched fists begin to shake. “B-because she’s like everyone else. She thinks I’d just get myself killed, and…” his voice trailed off.

**_“And?”_** the shadow egged. **_“Keep going.”_**

Izuku had only one trail this train of thought could go down. “And she wants to make sure that doesn’t happen.” His breath grew unsteady as his hands clutched at his heart. “She… she wants to p-protect me. S-She wants to protect everyone here. She’s the only one with a s-strong q-quirk in our area, so… s-so she s-sees herself as our keeper; s-she just d-doesn’t know how to c-convey t-that. I… I…” He fell to his knees, unable to finish the sentence, as his tears fell harder than they ever have.

The shadow did not wait for him to finish crying. **_“Do keep in mind that this is not a certainty; only a possibility.”_**

Izuku perked his head up at this. “W-what?”

**_“I am a piece of your subconscious,”_** the shadow reminded him, **_“not an omniscient being. Kacchan’s reasons could be much different; I merely wished to provide your conscious thought with a more positive approach to it.”_**

Izuku slowly pushed himself to his feet. “W-wait, then why even bring it up? And what does it have to do with my desire to be a hero?”

The shadow raised an eyebrow. **_“You wish to fulfill the promise you made, do you not? And you have almost everything you need to do so. But you lack the most important part of fulfilling any goal: unborrowed resolve.”_**

“Unborrowed…” Izuku tried to repeat the words, but his voice got caught in his throat when he realized what his shadow was saying. His resolve to be a hero came from Bakugo, not himself.

**_“You are rather quick to accept me.”_** The shadow gave a smirk too unlike Izuku to seem real. **_“Good; I’m sick of being turned away.”_** It rose to its feet, its gaze meeting Izuku’s. **_“Kacchan has been the face you see when you envision victory, and therefore, she is a source of your resolve. All Might is the face you see when you envision a savior, and therefore, he is another source. But you forget that neither will be around forever. Where will your resolve stem from then? How can you save others if you cannot envision_ yourself _saving them? How can you fight villains if you cannot see_ yourself _defeating them?”_**

The shadow paused, giving Izuku time to let the words sink in. Whenever he played hero, he had envisioned himself as All Might because he’s saved the most people out of any modern hero. Whenever he trained, he adopted the same ferocity as Bakugo because he was the strongest person he knew. They were his motivators.

But the shadow was right: he was leaning into those motivations too hard. He had never envisioned _himself_ saving people, or fighting villains as _himself_.

**_“The moon has reversed itself, and you know what your strength looks like,”_** the shadow finished. **_“You will find it soon enough, and your fortune will follow.”_**

Izuku’s skin tingled upon hearing this, but the lines forming between his eyebrows managed to hide his apprehension at how positively foreboding that sounded. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

The shadow spoke again, but its voice became completely different. It was higher-pitched, and sounded almost raspy and far more ominous. The words seemed familiar to him, and he could imagine the face of the person the voice belonged to: a balding man with a long nose, beady eyes, and legs that were too lanky to fit the average body proportions. 

“ _After you wake up, you will be told a harsh truth you will not wish to hear. However, by the end of the day, you will find your inner courage, and a life-changing opportunity will arise for you – but it will be up to you to decide whether or not you take it._ ”

Izuku barely registered the shadow’s disappearance, or the florescent blue butterfly that took its place. His mind had already wandered to that fever dream he had had when All Might accidentally punched him. The Velvet Room. Igor. The reading. Janice.

That was all real?

~~~

_Reversed Moon, Strength, Fortune… So I’ll find my courage today, then? My resolve?_ Izuku exited the building he had spoken to himself on, unaware that soft smile had been gracing his lips for the past few minutes. _I know what to do to find it, at least. I just have to envision_ –

An explosion rang out a few blocks down, dragging his attention to the sight of smoke rising into the sky. Was there another villain attack already?

Another explosion, from the same location. That was definitely a quirk.

Izuku rushed toward the now burning building. A small crowd graced his vision as he turned the corner, gathered around a group of heroes in front of a smoking alleyway. The pro hero Backdraft was firing water from his hose-shaped arms to put out the fires the explosions were causing, while three more pros – Kamui Woods, Death Arms, and the up-and-comer Mount Lady…

Stood there as though they were onlookers.

Izuku shoved his way through the crowd toward the front, his eyes widened with terror. “What’s going on?!” he cried. “Why aren’t the heroes doing anything?!”

“Their quirks aren’t useful for the situation, kid,” a man beside him stated. “Death Arms would just get caught, Kamui would just get burned, and Mount Lady won’t fit into the alleyway.”

“So what, they’re just going to wait for a suitable quirk to show up?!” Izuku’s counter held more ferocity than he knew he was capable of. “What if no one shows up in time?!” He continued shoving his way forward, barely managing to shove himself all the way to the front of the crowd.

And his entire body froze as he faced the visage of a viscous body of sludge.

The same villain that had attacked him.

_He… he escaped?! But how could –_ Izuku’s pupils shrank as the answer occurred to him. _When I grabbed All Might’s leg… he must have dropped the bottle, and…_

His clenched knuckles began to whiten. _This is all my fault, isn’t it? If I had just let All Might go, this wouldn’t have happened. Now someone’s going to –_

Izuku’s train of thought came to a screeching halt as the scent of caramel wafted into his nose from the alleyway. The combination of explosions and candy brought back memories he’d rather not have, and it triggered an irritation from the hand-shaped scar Bakugo had left on his stomach last week.

He glanced back up to the alleyway, focusing on who the villain took hostage, and he caught a glimpse of spiky ashen-blonde hair poking out from its living confines. He saw the open palms of the captive splayed out in front of the villain, ready to blast at anyone that got close enough. His emerald eyes met angry amber eyes, filled with fury and disbelief, that begged for a savior.

Izuku knew those eyes anywhere.

_Kacchan!_


	3. Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku finally awakens his persona

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had edited the end of this chapter based off of one of the comments I had seen and the next chapter I had planned. Thanks to havefeith for bringing it to my attention.
> 
> And while I'm on the topic of shoutouts, I'd like to thank FoxOnPie for the criticism he's been giving me for the past two chapters. I believe that the critics are the ones that really care about me, because they give me something in return for the work I show them: they show me the areas in which I can improve.
> 
> However, though this work is prone to editing now, I must inform you that that only extends to minor edits, either for spelling, grammar, or so the next chapter can make more sense.
> 
> All that's left is the usual disclaimers, so...
> 
> The usual disclaimers.
> 
> Enjoy!

Izuku didn’t know when he started running. He didn’t even register that his feet were carrying him toward the villain as fast as they could until he heard Death Arms screaming at him to get back; by then, he was already too deep in the alley for anyone to grab him.

But Izuku didn’t question himself. He hadn’t consciously made this decision, but he wasn’t about to just stand around with the onlookers that called themselves “heroes” while someone was actively dying in front of them.

However, it wasn’t until he was about halfway to the sludge villain that he realized he didn’t have a plan.

Izuku scanned his surroundings as he ran. A burning trash can and its lid on his left. A flaming dumpster beyond that on his right. An untouched dumpster at the dead end beyond the villain. The backpack on his back.

_No manhole covers. Good; that means he can’t easily escape._

Izuku slid his backpack off his shoulders and swung it around like a flail as he grabbed the trash can lid mid-sprint. _His body is made of liquid, but that eye has to be solid. I have to aim for it._

The sludge villain’s eye shifted from his captive to the advancing Izuku, and reeled back in shock. “You?!”

“Me!” Izuku swung the backpack at the villain’s eye, accidentally releasing it from his grip as he did so. The blow connected, sending the eye into the nearby wall and dazing the villain. 

_I’m down to the trash lid,_ Izuku thought. _But he’s stunned! I can try to pull Kacchan out now, at least!_

Izuku used the lid to shovel away bits of the sludge near Bakugo’s arm, regretful that he didn’t have the time to be careful not to leave any bruises. It only took a few seconds before he freed her forearm from the villain’s loosened grip, giving him enough leeway to grasp her wrist and pull as hard as he could.

The villain’s stunned state had loosened his grip just enough to relieve Bakugo from the living liquid.

Izuku barely managed to catch himself as Bakugo slammed into him, gasping for air and hacking up excess sludge that had gotten in her windpipe. She was in no shape to run away.

_I’ll have to carry her._

Izuku hoisted Bakugo onto his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and sprinted back toward the crowd he had emerged from, filled with stunned onlookers and heroes that clearly weren’t brave enough to even try what he had accomplished.

Pride began to well up in Izuku’s heart. He had done it. He had saved Bakugo from –

“PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN!”

A knee landed directly into Izuku’s gut, forcing him to release Bakugo from his fireman’s carry and hunch over in a coughing fit. His vision blurred upon impact, and he felt a small amount of bile build up in his esophagus from the impact.

He couldn’t help but tremble. Even when he saves her life, she attacks him like this. He knew she was never good with her emotions, but wasn’t that going too far?

Before Izuku could even ask what that was for, Bakugo grabbed his wrist and started dragging him toward the crowd, scowling at him as she pulled him along. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Deku! If anyone’s getting people to safety, it’s me!”

Izuku expelled what remaining wind he had in him to give a faint sigh of relief. _So she_ does _care. That’s good._

He glanced back toward the villain just in time to see two black liquid tendrils whipping toward them, leaving him with barely enough time to lunge forward and tackle Bakugo to the ground. The tendrils barely whiffed above Izuku’s hair, crashing into the wall and causing some loose rubble to fall on top of them.

“I’m getting real sick of your shit, kid,” the sludge villain growled as he slithered toward them. “So I’ll just kill you both!”

Izuku locked Bakugo in a full nelson and rolled onto his back as the tendrils slammed the ground where they once were, leaving a small crater in their wake. He released her immediately as he saw another tendril flying their way. “Blast it, Kacchan!”

“Don’t tell me what to do, nerd!” Despite her protest, Bakugo reached a hand out and fired an explosion at the incoming tendril, causing it to fly off the villain's main body and splatter into the smoldering trash can, dousing a portion of the fire.

Bakugo rolled off Izuku, allowing him to roll backward as a fourth tendril drilled itself where his stomach once was. Another tendril shot toward Bakugo, but she used her quirk to blast it back to the villain. However, she noticed as she fired that her hands were getting dry. The blasts the villain had forced her to do had dried her out too much; she didn’t have anything else left in her.

_Dammit. I’m at my limit already. If this bastard hadn’t forced me to use my quirk so much, I probably could have kicked his ass. But I can’t fire another explosion at this rate._

Before Bakugo could pull her hands away, the villain shot another tendril toward her in quick succession, and it latched onto both of her hands.

“Finally,” the villain panted. “Now stay still while I –”

A trash can slammed into the sludge villain’s eye, the heat from the flames inside it causing the liquid around the eye to bubble. In turn, the villain’s eye began to redden as its “socket” heated up the blood vessels to an extreme degree. It gave Bakugo enough time to pull herself free from the sludge.

She glanced toward the direction the trash can flew from to see Izuku shaking his now reddened hands. “Did you just throw a burning trash can?! What the fuck were you thinking?!”

Even in these moments, whenever someone yelled something like that at him, Izuku had always expected himself to say something along the lines of an apology, or that he wasn’t thinking at all – something that fit his waning confidence. The last thing he expected to do was shout an actual response with unnatural determination:

“You’ve been trying to protect me your whole life, Kacchan! I want to protect you too!”

Izuku barely registered the gleam in Bakugo’s eyes, and didn’t bother to think whether they were a gleam of pride or of fear; the sludge villain bearing down upon them, taking up the entire width of the alleyway, was a far more pressing concern.

“YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD, KID!”

~~~

Time seemed to stop for Izuku, letting him take in all his surroundings. Bakugo’s hands were thoroughly wrinkled – a sure sign that she was tapped. The villain didn’t leave any space wide enough for them to jump through. A part of the villain was already over their heads, so there was no way they were going to escape by backing away.

 _So much for inner strength,_ he inwardly chided. _Guess this is where it ends, huh? At a time where not even the heroes would want to act?_

As Izuku tried to laugh at the notion that he could actually do anything but delay the inevitable, a familiar animal fluttered in front of him and landed on his nose: a florescent blue butterfly.

**_“Will you truly give up here?”_ **

Izuku’s heart skipped a beat. _Is this…?_

 ** _“Reflect on everything you’ve worked for, and everything you’ve learned in your preparations.”_** His shadow’s voice was more commanding than when he had first met it. **_“Every training session you’ve had. Every note you’ve taken. Every bit of courage it took to push aside your doubt and others’… were they all for naught? Is your dream a mistake?”_**

Izuku felt his breath steel itself as he took in his shadow's words. Every moment he’s been alive has been dedicated to his goal of being a hero. This was a taste of everything he’s worked toward – a hint of heroism. If he hadn’t had a single day at hero school, then how was he supposed to see any other outcome? But he knew, deep down…

 _It’s not a mistake._ With that single thought, Izuku could feel his determination and confidence rising beyond what he thought possible. _I’m going to be a hero!_

The butterfly crawled up to Izuku’s forehead. **_“Then do so.”_**

~~~

A shockwave burst forth from Izuku in all directions, pushing everything away from him. Bakugo flew into the alley wall, wincing and coughing as the breath left her lungs. The sludge villain flew back from the impact of the energy surge, almost breaking apart as it did so. Mount Lady had to enlarge herself and protect the civilians outside the alley to keep them from flying back as well.

But Izuku didn’t register any of that. All he felt was a searing pain in the center of his forehead, as though the butterfly was drilling into his skull.

**_“I am thou.”_ **

Izuku reached up to his forehead instinctively, gripping at it and crying out in agony. There, in the center of his forehead, he felt a stone of some kind; it was just large enough to grip and pull away, but since it was imbedded into his skull, he doubted pulling it would do anything.

**_“Thou art I.”_ **

Despite his better judgement, Izuku couldn’t resist the urge welling up inside of him. He gripped the stone with his fingers and the ball of his hand as hard as he could, and attempted to pry the stone out of his head.

**_“Thou hast found their determination to fight against all odds.”_ **

Izuku hardly felt any resistance from the stone as he pulled it out of his head, causing a cascade of blood to roll down his face. Through the blood, he managed to peek at the stone: a green emerald, the size of a golf ball, that fit perfectly in his hand.

And he could see a person in its center, curled into a fetal position: a pale, muscular man with golden braids and a frame nearly identical to All Might, wearing leather armor over a brown tunic, leather pants tucked into black leather boots, and a fur cloak. A longsword hung from his belt, a bronze-tipped spear was slung across his back, and he wore a wooden shield with a steel spike in the center on his left arm.

**_“Now, open the gates! Call my name, and release the hero within!”_ **

Despite having never seen this man before, Izuku knew exactly who he was: an ancient Viking legend. Despite all logic related to mortality, he was curled up inside Izuku. And despite having no clue what was going on, he knew exactly how to set him free.

Izuku peered through the blood pouring into his eye at the sludge villain, who was still reforming, and he threw the emerald to the ground, shouting the name of the man within it.

“COME, BEOWULF!”

The emerald shattered upon impact with the ground, and a translucent viridian energy burst forth in a spiral around Izuku, reaching about a meter above his head. The surge of energy blasting at his face from the ground forced him to shield his eyes with his arm, though he managed to keep one eye slightly open.

And the crimson liquid that had poured over it was no longer there.

Izuku focused on his face, and he let out a gasp as he realized that the blood was retreating up his face and into the center of his forehead, as though it realized that it made a mistake and should have stayed inside him.

Izuku couldn’t refrain from voicing his thoughts. “What the heck is going on?!”

Bakugo apparently was thinking the same thing. “What the fuck is going on?!”

Izuku sensed a presence above and behind him when the wave of energy finally died down. His gaze slowly veered toward it, briefly meeting Bakugo’s as it travelled up to the being.

The same Viking legend that had been trapped in the emerald floated above him, sword in hand, a hardened glare aimed at the villain.

Izuku nearly lost his footing just seeing the Viking. “Who… who are you? _What_ are you?”

The Viking’s attention switched to Izuku, and he spoke without moving his lips. **_“You know the answer, Izuku Midoriya.”_**

Murmurs of the crowd beyond the threshold of the alleyway reached his ears. Apparently they could hear the Viking too.

**_“I am you, and you are me. I am every thought you’ve ever had, every emotion you’ve ever felt, every dream you’ve ever desired to fulfill, made manifest.”_ **

Izuku turned to Bakugo, accidentally trading glances with her, as confusion surged through both their minds. His gaze shifted to the side as he shrugged in honest perplexity.

And he noticed the sludge villain finish gathering himself together.

_Oh no; he’s reforming!_

As if hearing his thoughts, the Viking floated forward, placing himself between Izuku and the villain. **_“I am the inner Strength to save others that lies within your soul.”_**

Izuku’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. “My… Strength…”

The villain let out a growl. “Shut the hell up, asshole!” He threw a tendril directly at the Viking.

In a flash, the Viking had unsheathed his sword, slicing the tendril three times as it approached him and causing the liquid to splatter around Izuku. He extended his shield arm toward the villain.

**_“I am Beowulf, the hero within!”_ **

A strong gust of frozen air and ice particles burst forth from the Viking’s hand, targeting the sludge villain’s core and causing him to cry out in agony as his movements grew sluggish. His form began to harden in places, and ice particles coated his body and froze parts of him solid, incapacitating him and keeping him from altering his form further.

“S-s-so… c-c-c-cold…” the villain stammered. “S-s-s-so c-c-cold…”

Izuku’s jaw dropped, and the rest of his muscles locked up. This thing just incapacitated the villain with one attack! And it was with ice! Even if he had just awoken a dormant sentient quirk, no sentient quirk was able to use elements that powerful!

Beowulf turned back to Izuku and stared down upon him. **_“And I am your Persona.”_**

Izuku tried to glance toward Bakugo to see how she was taking this, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Beowulf. Even though he admitted to being a part of him, he didn’t say he was a quirk, but… a Persona? What even was that? Why would he appear now, instead of during his youth when everyone abused him?

 _And why does the word “Persona” sound so much more…_ accurate _than the word “quirk”?_

Beowulf began to shimmer with emerald light, growing more ethereal the brighter he became, until his Viking form was simply an emerald glow. The light formed into a ball and shrunk down to the size of a walnut, softly floating toward Izuku’s forehead.

Izuku didn’t understand why he didn’t retreat from the light. He was scared shitless and knew his muscles weren’t locking him in place anymore. But the being the light once was had protected him; even its claim that it _was_ him, however unbelievable it should be… he could tell this Beowulf was being honest. So he allowed the light to touch his forehead, and felt the warmth of a mother’s embrace slowly wash over his body from his forehead to his toes as he did so.

“Deku…”

It took Bakugo finally getting a word out to bring Izuku back to reality, and to bring to his attention that other people had watched whatever had happened, and almost certainly saw everything. The thought made most of his muscles lock up, and he struggled to even slowly turn his head enough to face her aghast expression.

He waved sheepishly at Bakugo, attempting to smile but accidentally wincing. “H-hey, Kacchan…”

Bakugo’s eyes shifted to Izuku’s forehead, and stayed there for a good while. “Did you just… manifest a quirk?”

Murmurs from heroes and civilians alike to echo throughout the crowd watching from beyond the entrance to the alley, reaching his ears as though they were saying it to his face:

“That was amazing…”

“It has to be illegal, though, right? He’s too young to be a hero.”

“But didn’t that girl say he just manifested it?”

“Manifested? So that kid was quirkless until just now?”

“I don’t believe it. If it’s that powerful, he had to have trained it.”

His breath heavy from suddenly being the center of attention, Izuku turned to the crowd eyeing him, and only now noticed something that he didn’t even register while he was in the crowd: news reporters.

They were filming this.

Izuku’s head began to lighten as his body grew heavier. His vision glazed over from all the attention he hadn’t received yet, but knew he was going to.

Kamui Woods stepped forward from the crowd. “Kid.”

That was the last thing he heard before his vision went dark.

~~~

When Izuku’s eyes opened, he was greeted with the velvet canopy from when All Might had accidentally hit him. The silk blanket was draped over him once more, and he felt his bare feet rubbing against each other once more.

Izuku blinked a couple of times before remembering what this was and muttering it aloud. “The Velvet Room…”

“Welcome back, Midoriya-kun.”

Izuku shot up in the bed from hearing Igor’s voice, accidentally letting the covers fall off his chest as he did so. Igor was already sitting at his desk at the foot of the bed, his unblinking eyes seeming to stare into his soul without the need to look into his eyes. It was enough to make Izuku shudder.

Igor waved a hand dismissively. “Do not be alarmed. You are unharmed; you had merely fainted from the public exposure. I took the opportunity to summon you once more.” He let out an amused chuckle. “Though, it would do you good to try to befriend others. In more ways than one, it would seem.”

Izuku glanced down, only now noticing that his bare chest was exposed and taking the opportunity to lift the covers over himself. “W-well, no one ever wanted to t-talk to me because I was quirkless, so I don’t think I would want to befriend them anymore; it… it wouldn’t be real.”

He raised his eyes to Igor just in time to see his grin widen. _This guy just gets creepier and creepier._

“Good,” Igor said. “You have enough self-respect to realize that.” He waggled a finger. “However, I was not referring to the people you know now.”

Izuku’s head shot up to Igor. “Huh?”

Igor reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the deck of tarot cards. “I may have done a reading on you while you combated that villain, asking what this opportunity might entail. Do you know which card I drew?”

Izuku knew well enough that this was a rhetorical question; of course Igor knew he didn’t know the card he drew. So he stayed silent.

Igor waved his hand, and another card on the opposite corner of the desk that Izuku didn’t see rose and floated toward him. The image was that of a man in a straw hat carrying a satchel over his back and dancing, as a dog followed him from behind. It was face up.

“This card is the Fool Arcana,” Igor continued, “which represents the start of an eventful journey.” He waved his hand again, and the card flew back onto the desk. “At least, that’s what it would mean in most cases.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“I refer to the being you have awakened called Beowulf,” Igor explained. “Do you recall how it called itself a ‘Persona’, and not a ‘quirk’?”

Izuku nodded; he remembered that word more than anything else that had happened in that moment.

Igor let out a chuckle. “That’s because it was telling the truth. A Persona is not a quirk, but the power of your inner psyche, controlled by your ego. And each Persona has an Arcana from the tarot deck attached to them, categorizing them by their strengths and weaknesses.”

He spread the deck across the desk, just below the Fool card, revealing one card among them to be face-up: Strength. “For instance, Personas of the Strength Arcana such as Beowulf excel in physical strength, but often lack agility and alacrity.”

Izuku thought back to the fight; even though he knew exactly what was coming, Beowulf had only struck after the villain had attacked. Furthermore, the ice only seemed to work that effectively because the villain was made of liquid.

_But I haven’t even seen what his physical strength is like, have I? If Beowulf’s less powerful traits are that strong, what can he do at his best?_

Igor’s next sentence brought him out of his thoughts. “However, when I pulled the Fool Arcana… it was revealed to me that your main Arcana would change soon.”

Izuku leaned back slightly. “Change? What do you mean by that?”

Igor flipped the Strength card face down and picked up the Fool Arcana. “When applied to a Persona, the Fool Arcana acts as a wild card, allowing for any strength or weakness based on how it is used. It is like the number zero in that it is both empty, and yet holds infinite potential.”

Izuku’s stomach sank. “Empty…?”

Igor’s eyes wandered from the card back to Izuku. “I assure you, bonding with others will do you wonders in boosting your confidence.” He placed the card down. “The important thing is that it holds infinite potential. Simply put, someone with the Fool as their main Arcana would be able to wield multiple Personas.”

Izuku leaned forward once more, now entranced by the idea of each Arcana. “Multiple Personas…?”

“Indeed.” His grin grew past his ears. “And it seems that whatever this opportunity you will be given is, it would shift your main Arcana from Strength… to the Fool.”

“Seriously?!” Izuku leapt up on the bed, momentarily forgetting that he was naked. “That’s so cool! How many Personas can I have at once? Would I get them immediately, or would they come to me later? Would I get to choose them, or would they choose me? If I can choose them, would I know what they’d do before I decide? Can I replace a Persona if I need to? Would I keep Beowulf? I really like Beowulf. Oh, what about – ”

“M-Midoriya-sama…”

Izuku froze upon hearing the feminine voice from the entrance, and his eyes slowly shifted to see the maid – Janice, he believed – clutching a book to her chest and covering her mouth with her free hand as her eyes wandered up and down, aimed at Izuku the whole time.

_I just showed everything to a girl! And I haven’t even spoken to her!_

It took a few moments for his muscles to unlock, but Izuku curled up into a ball as soon as they did, pulling the velvet covers over his body and shoving his face into a pillow before screaming into it as loud as he could, for as long as he could. Then he caught his breath and screamed again. And again. 

This went on for five minutes before Janice had a chance to speak. “I… I apologize, Midoriya-sama. I should have knocked before entering.”

Midoriya didn’t dare to peek out from behind the sheets, but he could see the silhouette of Janice bowing to him through the covers. “N-no, it’s f-f-fine; y-you weren’t expecting it e-either.”

_Just kill me now._

Janice rose. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think –”

“Janice,” Igor interrupted. “I know what you were about to say; perhaps you should wait until later to tell him. I doubt he can handle hearing it as he is now.”

Izuku dared peek out from his sheets to see Janice nodding toward Igor. “Yes, master. Another time, then.”

Igor turned back to the timid form of Izuku. “The questions you have asked are details we shall attend to at another time, should you accept the Fortune you will soon be offered. However, before I release you into the physical world, I have one final suggestion.”

Izuku nodded, not daring to make a noise this time.

Igor leaned forward, his smile waning just enough to convey a sternness that seemed almost foreign to the man. “I suggest you act as though Beowulf, or any other Persona you may or may not obtain, were a sentient quirk. It may be an inaccurate description, but I believe it is the only way to disguise your awakening, and begin the journey that is about to unfold.”

Izuku nodded once more. _That should be easy enough. I can just say it was a dormant quirk; no one should question me too much then._

“With that in mind –” Igor leaned back in his seat – “until we meet again.”

Izuku’s vision grew blurry once more, and his body and eyelids grew heavy again. He collapsed onto the bed once more, one final thought going through his head before he blacked out:

_Did I just talk to Janice?_

~~~

The first thing Izuku registered when he came to was the voices of paramedics and the feeling of tight restraints strapped across his body. He was clearly laying down on something cushioned, and it was being wheeled somewhere.

_A stretcher?_

The light from the sun was too bright for him to see clearly at first when he opened his eyes, but he soon made out paramedics on either side of him, wheeling him toward what he believed to be an ambulance.

_A stretcher._

“Where’s Kacchan?”

The paramedics stopped in their tracks, and Izuku felt the jolt of the stretcher coming to a halt as they did. The one on the right began adjusting the wheels, but the bald man to his left paused and turned to him incredulously. “Where’s – shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself?”

“I’m fine,” Izuku replied. “I just have a light headache, is all. Is Kacchan okay?”

He wasn’t lying; aside from a light throbbing on either side of his head, Izuku felt no pain and believed he could move around quite easily. Just to be sure, though, he wiggled his toes and fingers, then his wrists and ankles, then bent his arms.

The paramedic on his right – a woman wearing too much makeup to poorly hide her albino pigments – caught Izuku’s movements and paused as she began lifting the wheel into the ambulance. “You can move?”

Izuku nodded. “If you’d let me prove it…”

The paramedics exchanged brief glances, as though debating whether they should allow it, before undoing the straps to the stretcher and reaching to help him up.

Izuku shifted so that he was sitting on the edge of the stretcher, shocking everyone watching him. He glanced around again, his breath quickening once more as he eyed the camera angled at him.

_Just ignore it. Kacchan’s more important; ignore it._

The reminder was enough to tear his eyes away from the camera and continue glancing around, stopping only when he saw Bakugo. Paramedics were glancing over her as well, making sure she was okay, but other than that she seemed to be in top shape.

Izuku hopped off the stretcher and hurried toward her, pushing through the crowd and apologizing continuously as he did so. When he finally reached a break in the crowd, his pace quickened to a light jog. “Kacchan! Are you –”

A bark-encrusted tendril wrapped around his wrist as he moved, freezing him mid-sentence in both motion and speech. His gaze slowly steered to the man grabbing hold of him, taking in the bark that made up his skin, and the hulking man beside him with arms that rivaled that of All Might’s hero form.

Kamui Woods and Death Arms.

And while Kamui seemed ambivalent, Death Arms did not look happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I'd base the Personas off of heroes of legend from multiple pantheons and mythologies, and give each Arcana a stat strength and weakness, to make them more diverse.
> 
> Midoriya's only going to get one Persona from each Arcana, as he forms bonds with people. Each one will be based off of a hero of some kind, whether they're already in a game or not - but none of them will be gods until he can use the World Arcana.
> 
> Anyway, that's the chapter. I'll see you again once the next one's out.


	4. Fortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku escapes the heroes' jurisdictions, and gets some closure with both Bakugo and All Might.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've gotten a bit of criticism from the comments of this work in previous chapters, telling me that the way I've written Izuku's Shadow in chapter 2 isn't how shadows work in the games. And I'm fully aware of this. In Persona 4/Golden, the shadows antagonize their host, and attack if they deny them. And in Persona 5/Royal, the shadows don't even reveal their form... in most cases.
> 
> For those of you who have played Persona 5/Royal (I'll admit now that I haven't, since I don't have/can't afford a PS4, but I've seen the gameplay on Youtube), you may remember Futaba Sakura's shadow appearing before her and helping her realize a crucial piece of information that turned the Shadow into her Persona. I'm writing the Shadows and Personas similarly to that scene, but I'm adding a major twist that you'll see in Chapter 5. After all, Shadows that become Personas function differently in each game; why should that change in a fanfiction?
> 
> All rights to My Hero Academia go to Kohei Horikoshi. All rights to the Persona franchise go to Atlus and ASCII Entertainment. Please support the official releases!

“You’re in a lot of trouble, kid,” Death Arms chastised in a deep voice. “You know that, right?”

Izuku knew exactly what he was talking about. What he did could easily be considered vigilantism – using a quirk to do hero work without a license – which was a federal offense that could get a person jailtime. They wouldn’t necessarily go to Tartarus, but they would definitely be imprisoned.

_How can I pretend it was a quirk and not get arrested for it?!_

“I don’t care if your friend there said you just manifested that quirk of yours,” Death Arms continued. “Quirks don’t just appear out of nowhere. You had to have had it before today.”

Izuku knew he was in trouble, no matter how he would slice it. But he also knew that the way he sliced it could spell the difference between a stern warning and prison. He thought back on every bit of information he had found during his quirk studies.

And he found something he could use.

“W-well, it must have been a dormant quirk.”

This caught the heroes’ attention, and caused another commotion in the audience.

“Dormant quirk?”

“He has to be making it up, right?”

“There’s no way he made it up. That guy goes to my school; he was quirkless a few hours ago.”

Izuku’s eyes wandered to the guy who said that last sentence: a boy with elongated fingers. He recognized the boy as Yubi – one of Bakugo’s “followers”, and the biggest rumormonger of Aldera High. There was no way the school wouldn’t find out about this tomorrow.

Kamui and Death Arms seemed just as confused as the crowd, but it was Kamui who spoke up. “Do you mind explaining what that is?”

“Dormant quirks hide themselves until a certain condition is met,” Izuku explained. “Not even quirk scans can find them until they reveal themselves, so their holders are considered quirkless until they awaken, but they’re guaranteed to be super powerful when they appear.” He motioned to the frozen sludge villain, whom multiple police officers were carrying to a paddy-wagon. “Sort of like that.”

Izuku was not a praying man, but in that moment, he nevertheless gave thanks to whatever god was listening that the heroes seemed to listen to the impromptu lecture. It helped that he knew exactly what he was talking about thanks to his extensive studies, but the real saving grace was that the heroes appeared to be actually listening to his words.

“Quirkologists assume that pretty much everyone that manifests a powerful quirk after the age of ten just had a dormant quirk they couldn’t find,” Izuku continued. “Since I didn’t even know I could do that, I don’t think I’m an exception.”

Kamui nodded along to the information as Izuku finished, then raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, now that you mention it, I’ve heard about them before. I thought it was a myth, though…”

Death Arms looked over Izuku multiple times before letting out a huff. “Alright. I suppose I can rule this as a fortunate quirk manifestation.” He motioned for Kamui to release his hand, allowing Izuku to rub his wrist, before raising his voice again. “But I can only do that once, so you better not do something like this again without a hero license, alright?!”

Izuku reflexively raised his hands in surrender, understanding that he had gotten the best possible outcome and that there was no need to push it any further. “Right. Thank you, sir.”

Death Arms let out another huff and left to help the police officers, but Kamui stayed behind just a little longer, watching Death Arms until it was clear that he was no longer paying attention. “Forgive him,” he said. “Death Arms treats the guidelines he was given in his hero training as strict rules; he’s told me that being a hero has gotten a bit chaotic for him, and I think it helps give him a sense of order.”

“O-oh, is that so?” Izuku let out a nervous chuckle. “I guess I can understand then; I don’t think anyone likes villain attacks.”

Kamui briefly glanced over his shoulder to Death Arms, who was pushing the villain into the paddy-wagon on his own and paying them no mind. “Well, if you want my input –” he leaned down and placing a gentle hand on Izuku’s shoulder – “what you did was reckless, but it was incredibly heroic, and I don’t think that girl would have survived if you weren’t here.” He pat Izuku’s shoulder twice in approval. “You’d make an amazing hero. Thanks.”

Izuku’s heart soared so high at the statement that his eyes began to water from emotional overload. He was thanked for this. For the first time in his life, he was thanked for saving someone in trouble. And since it was from someone that didn’t even know he was quirkless before, he knew it was genuine. Not only was it genuine, but it came from a hero – one of the top twenty, at that!

_Is this what happiness feels like?_

The albino paramedic grabbed his wrist, snapping him out of his glimpse of nirvana. “Sorry kid,” she said, “but we still have to make sure you’re not hurt.”

“Ah…” Izuku glanced back to Bakugo, whom another group of paramedics were still checking up on. She was in good hands; he might as well do the same. “Y-Yeah. Thank you.”

~~~

After finishing getting checked up and having the burns on his hands treated, Izuku decided to head home, grateful that Kamui Woods had steered the media away from him. Still, there was no doubt he was going to be on the news tonight, and possibly even the next. And since Yubi was at the scene, he was definitely going to be the talk of the school for a good while at least.

_Well, tomorrow’s Sunday, so I have a day to prepare, at least._

As Izuku turned the corner, he saw the shadow of a spiky-haired girl wearing a school uniform splayed along the ground behind him, drawing his attention to the source. Bakugo had been trailing behind him, seemingly pondering something he knew better than to ask about. She didn’t seem to pay much attention to him at the moment – which, from personal experience, he usually found to be a good thing.

However, he had a burning question for her.

“Kacchan?”

Bakugo shot a glare at him and spoke without missing a beat. “What? Both our houses are in this direction; I was just walking behind you. What about it?”

Izuku began flailing his arms in front of his face. “N-no, it’s not that! I was just wondering something, is all!”

It took a moment, but Bakugo’s expression shifted from a glare to a neutral scowl. “Okay. Out with it.”

Izuku nearly let out a sigh of relief, but stopped himself halfway; that was usually when Bakugo sucker-punched him. He kept a hand up as though to protect himself, and reached the other one behind his neck. “About earlier, just before I fainted… you asked if I manifested a quirk.”

Bakugo didn’t bat an eye. “What about it?”

“Well, that’s kind of unlike you, isn’t it?” Izuku queried. “You hate it when people hold back, and we’ve fought plenty of times; I would have assumed you’d think I was hiding it from you instead of it just manifesting.”

For the next few silent seconds, Izuku could feel his heart beating in his head. He could imagine this playing out in many different scenarios – she could yell at him, attack him, say she “knew” he _was_ hiding Beowulf from her…

But he didn’t imagine her calmly answering his questions.

“One: Auntie Inko's the one that said you were quirkless, not you. Two: you'd never defend yourself when I attacked you, so I knew you didn't have anything to defend yourself with. Three: you’re too damn pure; you wouldn’t do something that you know would hurt others’ feelings, unless they were threatening someone else. Especially those you look up to.”

The hand on the back of Izuku’s neck began to close and open instinctively, the fingers digging into the skin as they fidgeted. “Huh. I… didn’t think that would be a factor.”

“And I only realized this now, but it's absolute confirmation." Bakugo aimed a finger at Izuku. “That gem you pulled off your face when you summoned that thing? It grew back.”

Izuku’s fingers stopped rubbing against his neck. The emerald was still there? If that was true, why didn’t he feel anything in his forehead? Was it going to stay there so he can pull it out later? Would Beowulf come out every time he pulled the gem out?

Just to check, Izuku reached his free hand to his forehead. Sure enough, the cold, smooth surface of the gemstone had replaced a circular portion of his skin. And he didn’t notice it before, but it seemed to bulge out of his forehead a little, creating a little hill of rock on his face.

A tense smile grew on Izuku’s face as he softly bit his tongue. There was no way he was going to hide this from his mom now, even if she didn’t see the news; she was going to freak out for sure.

_Please let her be happy about it, at least._

“I… I see.” Izuku’s hands lowered to his sides. “Thanks.”

Bakugo let out a grunt and continued past Izuku, who made room for her to walk by him. When she was about five meters away, though, he called something else out. “And I’m glad you’re okay.”

Bakugo stopped in her tracks and shot a glare back to Izuku, who found himself taking a reactive step back and raising his hands as though to defend himself from the attack he was sure was coming. _I couldn’t keep my big mouth shut, could I?_

Rather than attack, however, Bakugo simply scoffed. “Just don’t expect me to repay you.”

With that, she turned and stomped away, muttering something under her breath that Izuku didn’t quite make out, save for the words “stupid fucking Deku”.

When Bakugo was out of earshot, Izuku finally let out that sigh of relief. “Man, I’m really not good with girls, am I?”

He went to turn in the direction of his house, but paused partway as he realized something important: Bakugo had just him for what he did. Sure, her words were harsh; “Don’t expect me to repay you” isn’t the nicest thing to say to someone who did something for you. But the words implied that she acknowledged that he had saved her life. The thought gave him a wide grin – one of the few genuine smiles he had ever given in his life past the age of five.

Then he realized something else – a bit less heartwarming, but just as positive and arguably more important – that stole his grin and froze every muscle in his body:

_I just had a normal conversation with Kacchan!_

~~~

Izuku arrived at his apartment building in trepidation, still mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of his mom’s emotions that was to come. The embrace he knew would come first would certainly be welcome, but the tear stains that would soon be on his shirt would be a nuisance to dry off.

And how would she even present herself to him? From her understanding, her only son had rushed headlong toward a villain, saved his best friend, and then woke up a dormant quirk because of it. Would she act angry with him? Worried sick? Proud? A mixture of all three? She’d certainly feel all of those, but she’s hid emotions from him before; he knew she’d do it again.

_Oh well. Let’s just get this over with._ Izuku took one step up the stairs.

“Young man, may I speak to you for a bit?”

Izuku recognized that voice. He had just heard it earlier today, on the rooftop where he spoke to his shadow. His shadow’s voice was much deeper – and almost inhuman – but this voice, calm as it was, had a less commanding presence to it.

Izuku turned to the voice’s source: the skeleton with wild blond hair and baggy eyes he had seen All Might himself turn into. He still had a hard time believing that this was All Might’s real form, but a part of him figured that as long as he could still hold his buff form at all, it shouldn’t really matter. This was All Might, after all – a legend in his own right; even if he can only be a hero for three hours a day now, he’s still the greatest hero that ever lived.

However, he knew he couldn’t just call him All Might while he’s in this form. It would draw too much unwanted attention, and would give away the fact that he’s injured. So he pretended he never met him before.

“Sure. How can I help you?”

All Might paused for a beat, his eyes twinkling for a brief moment, before he spoke. “My name is Toshinori Yagi. I’m one of All Might’s personal trainers, as well as his talent scout.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow, unsure where All Might was heading with this. “Talent scout?”

“Talent scout,” All Might continued. “I was at the incident just now, and I saw how you rushed into action while the heroes simply stood by and watched. I also saw how they berated you afterwards.” He pocketed his hand. “Normally I’d ask what you were thinking too, but I think I already know.”

Izuku’s heart alternated between rising and falling at the information, as well as the possible question he hadn’t thought to ask himself: _What_ was _I thinking?_

“You weren’t thinking, were you?” All Might suggested. “Your feet just moved on their own before you had a chance to think.”

The answers that began to infiltrate Izuku’s mind instantly retreated as All Might shared that possibility; of all the answers he could have thought of, that seemed to resonate with him the most.

“Heroes come from backgrounds of all kinds,” All Might continued, “from the talented, rich, and lucky to the poor, mediocre, and unfortunate. But many heroes had a catalyst in their lives that defined their future. And the best of those heroes all had the same catalyst: someone was in danger, and they sprung into action without thinking. Just like you.”

Izuku’s heart rose again; All Might just praised him for his actions, and he hadn’t even mentioned his Persona. Then his heart fell again; All Might seemed to be heading in that direction, even if it wasn’t the first thing he had said.

All Might coughed into his shoulder, leaving a few specks of blood on his otherwise plain white T-shirt. “I actually came with a message from All Might. He wanted to apologize for what he had said to you earlier today, and correct a part of his answer.”

Izuku’s eyes widened, and his breath quickened and deepened. _Is this going where I think it’s going?_

“Young man, you _can_ become a hero.”

In any other timeline, Izuku would have been overjoyed to hear that. He would have broken down crying every emotion he had just from hearing the number one hero telling him this when no one else would. He would have praised every god in every pantheon, just in case the most commonly worshiped ones were wrong.

But he had awoken Beowulf only an hour earlier, and he had solidified the villain in one attack. For all intents and purposes, he had a powerful quirk now; society itself would stop laughing at his dream without any more help. What need was there for All Might to change his answer when the question itself was a moot point?

“Yagi-san, was this change of heart really because of my actions?”

Izuku didn’t know where that question came from. He seriously didn’t want to challenge All Might on anything, even if he was only saying it because of Beowulf. But he wasn’t able to stop himself from continuing his retort.

“All Might knows what I did at the incident. How I had awoken my quirk. How powerful it was. He had told me that I couldn’t be a hero without a quirk when I thought I was quirkless, when that question meant something.” Izuku clenched his fists as tears formed in his eyes, and his words grew louder and more emotional as he spoke. “I thought he was amazing, you know! He had announced to the world that anyone could be a hero, and that gave me hope! But then he goes and contradicts himself to my face, saying I couldn’t be a hero without a quirk! And now that I actually have a quirk – a powerful one, at that – he thinks he can just apologize, change his answer and everything would be okay?!”

For once, he wasn’t minding his words to make sure others didn’t worry. These pent-up emotions – his rage, fear, sorrow, confusion – had finally taken their toll on him after years of holding them in without sharing them; he had to unload them somewhere, right now, and All Might was the only one around to hear it.

“My entire world was heroes!” Izuku’s eyes shut tight as he punched the stone railing to the stairs, scraping his knuckles as he did so. “I had lived and breathed them from the day I was born! Those notebooks are proof of it! And he crumbled my whole life with one sentence! Why now?! Why would that –” he struggled to get the word out, silently cursing himself for what he was about to say to All Might – “that _hypocrite_ change his answer now, when I’ve already picked up the pieces and rebuilt?!”

Izuku’s torrent of emotions finally overwhelmed his mind, both from the fake answer and the insult he just threw at his hero – no matter how much he deserved it – and the dam of anger that held back the water in his eyes burst. He collapsed to his knees as he openly wept into his hands, his head pounding with every tear he shed.

A bony hand landed on Izuku’s shoulder, silencing his cries. He lifted his head slightly, allowing the tears to roll down his cheeks a bit faster as he caught the scrawny All Might kneeling before him, his expression downcast and a sincere solemness in his eyes. The genuineness of it all, despite his earlier hypocrisy, gave Izuku a sense of calm he otherwise wouldn’t have appreciated.

“I’m sorry, young man.” All Might’s words provided an air of consolidation to them, rather than their usual positive intensity. “I wasn’t trying to judge your worth as a hero by your quirk. Powerful as it is, I’d realized I was wrong long before it had awoken. Simply rushing in at all, when not even the heroes thought they could do anything, was all it took for me to realize my mistake: it wasn’t my place to answer the question anyway.”

Izuku pulled his hands away from his face, unsure how to take this information in. “N-not your place…?” His voice was still wet from his earlier sobs.

“To misquote myself,” All Might explained, “the most important thing to remember is that your life is what you make of it, regardless of your history; you decide what you do with it. That’s what I mean when I say, ‘ _I_ am here’.” All Might knelt down and gave Izuku a hug, which Izuku allowed but stiffened up at. “Only you can decide to become a hero. No one else.”

In that moment, he forgot the reason he had yelled at All Might in the first place. He forgot every negative emotion that had run through his head about him. He even forgot he had called him a hypocrite. The only thought he had registered in that moment was All Might’s most famous speech, which he had altered just enough to be aimed more at the quirkless than the quirked.

“A-All Might…”

Tears he didn’t know he had left poured out of his eyes and onto All Might’s shoulder, washing away the bloodstains still on his shirt, as he gripped All Might as hard as he could and began sobbing once more. But this time, they were tears of joy: joy that someone beyond his immediate family, let alone _All Might_ , saw him for who he was. He didn’t see him for a quirk, or a skillset, but for Izuku Midoriya – a boy with a strong desire to save others, trying his best to push past the constant mocking from his peers and fulfill his dream despite the setbacks placed before him.

All Might continued comforting him for as long as he shed his tears, his mind split between the matter and the reason he came here. _I am truly sorry, young man. I knew you would take it hard – not just because of what you had said, but because I had gone through the same thing. If not for my predecessor, I would never had been in your shoes._

Izuku’s tears eventually ran dry, and he released All Might. “I-I’m sorry, I…”

“I understand. You needed that.” All Might stood up. “However, that’s not the full reason I had come here.”

Izuku glanced back up at All Might, his eyes stained red from all the tears. “Eh?”

All Might squinted at his right hand and shook his head before speaking. “Before I get to that, I don’t believe I got your name.”

“A-Ah…” Izuku rose to his feet, his legs still a bit shaky from having been on his knees for so long. “Izuku Midoriya.”

“Midoriya-shounen…” All Might paused and surveyed his surroundings. No one else was around. Perfect. “Tell me, what do you think my quirk is?”

Izuku glanced back to the apartment complex. “W-Well, in my notebooks I have it labelled as Super Strength –” he turned back to All Might – “but after seeing your injury… I think it lets you oxidize your muscles. That’s how you maintained your hero form when you had both lungs. And you lost one, so it would explain why you can only be a hero for three hours a day now.”

All Might gave a quick bark of laughter, though he was careful to make it soft enough to not alert those in the apartments. “That has to be the closest anyone has ever gotten to guessing correctly. But no.” He extended a hand outward, palm facing up, fingers curled and tensed.

Izuku gaped in awe as a glowing mote of light appeared within the center of All Might’s palm. All Might had never used this kind of thing in combat; why is he showing this to him now?

“My quirk,” All Might explained, “is called One For All.”


	5. Fortune, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku answer's All Might and starts up a new journal. Pretty low-energy compared to the previous four.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you hate it when you lose all motivation to do anything for days at a time? I do. It keeps me from enjoying myself; leaves me void of any emotion, good or bad.
> 
> Depression's a bitch, man.
> 
> But hey, I'm alive! And I've overcome the apathy this time! So here's another chapter.

“One For All…”

Izuku couldn’t recall hearing of a quirk of that nature. The only time he had ever heard of the phrase is from an ancient pre-quirk era book called _The Three Musketeers_ , and it made no sense without the other half of the phrase.

“A quirk that can be passed on,” All Might explained. “One user stockpiles power with the quirk, then passes it onto the next user, who inherits the stockpiled power and stockpiles more onto it. It therefore gets stronger with each new user.” The mote he had summoned vanished as he lowered his hand. “I am the eighth holder of One For All, and – um, I’d rather you didn’t write this down, Midoriya-shounen.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow as though to ask what he was talking about, but glanced down to see he already had a notebook and pen in hand and had written down the words “One For”. _When did I pull this out?_

“I can’t risk this secret being made public,” All Might added. “This is too valuable information to write down anywhere, even in code. If word got out that a quirk this powerful could be passed on, how do you think the public would react?”

Izuku’s hand immediately cupped his chin. “Well, it’s possible that people would be accepting and feel safe, and it’s almost a certainty that the populace would be vying for it. Worst-case scenario, you’d probably have to explain why you’re sharing the information and…”

Izuku’s eyes widened as he thought back to the injury on All Might’s chest, and how horrified had felt when he learned about it. There was no way the Symbol of Peace would be able to share the injury with the public without revealing the man who gave it to him.

“It seems you understand.” All Might nodded. “Good. I'm glad I don’t have to risk someone overhearing me spell it out.”

Izuku nodded absentmindedly before a thought struck him. “Wait, so if you’re telling me something this important – something not even the hero board knows about – does that mean…?”

All Might nodded before Izuku could finish the question. “I want you to be my successor.”

Izuku’s eyes glistened intensely. This had to be the opportunity Igor was talking about when the Fortune card was drawn – when the Fool card was drawn. Who could possibly turn this kind of thing down?

Even so, Izuku hesitated to answer. Despite his heart and gut screaming at him to accept, his mind whispered something else:

_You’re not worthy._

The fact that the thought wasn’t completely inaccurate scared Izuku. That much power would be almost impossible to defeat, whether physically or through his Personas – and all he did to warrant the offer was rush into danger to save Bakugo. Sure, no one else was doing anything, not even the heroes, but he was biased toward her; she was the only person who cared for him other than his mom, even if she disguised it as hatred. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to do something similar if it was a complete stranger.

“I…”

**_“Your doubt is creeping in, Izuku Midoriya.”_ **

Izuku froze upon hearing the familiar voice in his head. _Beowulf?_

**_“All Might acknowledged you,”_** Beowulf continued. **_“He is a legend of this era. He has defeated countless villains and saved countless lives in such a short time. If his idea of his nemesis is anything to go by, he has taken down a monster. And out of everyone, he acknowledged you.”_**

Izuku stood up and darted his eyes everywhere in search of the glowing blue butterfly that let him talk to his inner self earlier, but he couldn’t find it. There wasn’t even a shade of blue in the vicinity. How was Beowulf speaking to him?

“What’s wrong? Did you hear something?”

Izuku glanced back to All Might, who started glancing around as well. Even though his hero form was depleted for the day, he held a guarded stance as though ready for an attack in any direction.

Izuku released the tension he found in his shoulders. “Ah, n-no, it’s fine. I just got paranoid for a bit, is all.”

All Might glanced around one more time in his stance before releasing his stance and the breath he held. “Good. I’m not sure if I can handle seeing you in danger three times in one day.”

Izuku let out a breath of his own as he debated his negative thoughts against Beowulf’s point. He was normally able to find a counterpoint to any argument toward his happiness within half a second, but he realized five seconds in that for the first time, Izuku couldn’t find a way to justify his self-doubt.

All Might nodded at the new silence. “Well, you don’t have to answer me now, but –”

“I’ll do it.”

All Might’s eyebrows raised upon hearing the same determination in Izuku’s voice as his declaration to protect his friend. Even if he had to think about it for a few seconds, it was a more immediate response than he had expected. Sure, he had given his response to his predecessor before she even made the offer, but he hadn’t studied quirks as extensively as Izuku had; he had expected he would need more time to wrap his head around the concept.

Even so, All Might smiled. It wasn’t as wide or as bright as the smile in his hero form, but it was genuine. “I’m glad you’re eager, Midoriya-shounen. But I can’t give it to you just yet; your muscles aren’t developed enough right now.”

“Huh?” Izuku glanced down at his biceps and flexed, noting their toned and firm state. He knew he wasn’t the most fit kid in school, but he was definitely in the top ten. Even so, All Might was leagues above him; would he have to have that level of strength?

“Your major muscles are fine,” All Might explained, “but there are muscles that a regular workout can’t reach, and One For All doesn’t discriminate between them. If you don’t get every muscle you have up to speed, your limbs could blow off your body the first time you use it.”

Izuku went into a cold sweat upon hearing that, and he decided without doubt that he didn’t want to figure out how All Might knew that. However, it made sense; the body of a normal person couldn’t handle the amount of power All Might had at his disposal. That must have been why All Might had his buff form. But would that mean All Might had to develop the buff form on his own? Was that his quirk before he got One For All, and it let him handle all that power? Or maybe –”

“Midoriya-shounen?”

The words brought Izuku out of his thoughts, helping him notice that his hand had cupped his chin – a dead giveaway that he was muttering even when no one heard him. _I said all that out loud, didn’t I?_

A sheepish chuckle escaped his lips as he lowered his hand. “Sorry; force of habit.”

All Might waved his hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Just make sure you’re aware of what’s going on.” He pulled out his phone and opened it up. “Here. If you’re going to be my protégé, we’ll need to stay in contact.”

Izuku’s brain froze for a second. This was the first time anyone had given him their number. He had kind of hoped it would be under different circumstances – one of his supposed peers, for instance – but the disbelief he felt was overwhelmed by sheer joy.

_I’m getting All Might’s number!_

Despite his muscles locking up, Izuku managed to pull out and open his phone, a giant grin on his face the entire time. The thought briefly struck him that he can’t show anyone his contact information ever again, or whoever saw it would kill him out of envy.

After exchanging numbers, All Might spoke up again. “By the way, do you know where Dagobah Beach is?”

“Huh?” It took Izuku a moment to process the unexpected question, given he was still staring at his phone in disbelief, but it clicked soon enough. “Oh, yeah. It’s like half a mile from my apartment. Why?”

“That’s where we’ll be doing most of our training,” All Might explained. “I want you to meet me there before sunrise tomorrow so we can develop a workout plan and diet for you, based on your body type and what we need to accomplish. From there, I’ll want you to follow it until U.A.’s entrance exam. Okay?”

Izuku took a moment to think before he responded. Tomorrow was Sunday, so he wouldn’t have school. That was good; he’d be able to get a small head start on his workout plan if they make it early. And since Dagobah was more of a trash dump than an actual beach, no one would think to find All Might there while he wasn’t doing hero work.

Before Izuku could answer, his phone buzzed in his hand. A text from his mom.

**Mom: IZUKU! I JUST SAW ON THE NEWS THAT YOU RUSHED INTO A VILLAIN ATTACK! ARE YOU OKAY?! YOU’RE NOT HURT, ARE YOU?! WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID?!**

“Oh no! Mom's gonna kill me!” Izuku blurted out as he dashed up the steps to his apartment. “You got it! Dagobah, tomorrow before sunrise! I’ll see you then!”

~~~

All Might watched on as Izuku rushed up the stairs to his apartment. “That boy really cares about his mom, huh?” He couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement. “If only he knew I was the same way.”

As he walked away, All Might flipped through the photos on his phone to a picture of a younger version of him, in his U.A. uniform, smiling and flexing both arms. Standing next to him, apparently holding the phone for a selfie, was a beautiful woman with a slender, yet voluptuous frame covered with lean, powerful muscles. Her black hair reached down just past the shoulders, which was covered by a yellow cape over her black sleeveless hero costume. She was grinning at the camera, winking, and giving it a peace sign.

_Nana-sensei… if only you could meet him…_

~~~

“IZUKUUUUU!”

A chubby woman with forest green hair wrapped in a bun had basically crushed him in a hug as soon as he opened the door, digging her face into his shoulder as her tears splashed against his uniform. Through her tears, and because his chest muffled her voice, Izuku could barely understand a word that was coming out of her mouth.

“Mom… can’t… breathe…”

His mom lightened up the hug on him a little, but kept it tight enough that she could still bury her face into him while sobbing. The longer he heard her cry, the deeper his stomach sank; even if he saved Bakugo, he made her worry for him.

Who was he kidding? She had been worried for him ever since the doctors declared him quirkless. He had tried hiding all the bullying from her so that she would worry less, but he knew that she knew that society would discriminate against him for the most part; her worry was unavoidable.

Three minutes of tears and a fully sopping school uniform later, Izuku’s mom finally calmed down enough to speak coherently. “Y-Y-You rushed… you r-rushed into a… a… a v-v-villain att-t-t-tack!” Her tears came back full force, but with her face turned to the side instead of in his chest, he was able to hear everything she said. “Do you have any idea how scared I was?!”

Izuku let out a defeated sigh. Of course he was on the news; who wouldn’t want to know about a young boy who “manifested a quirk” saving someone else?

“And… and you… you have a q-q-quirk!” She barely managed to get that part out at first, but she couldn’t stop repeating it once she did. “You have a quirk! You have a quirk, and it saved your lives!”

Izuku instinctually reached for the gem in his forehead to feel it, not even registering that his arms were free from his mom’s vice grip of a hug. It was a gentle reminder that the Persona’s awakening was timed almost too perfectly, and that he was lucky everyone bought the dormant quirk story.

Izuku’s mom finally pulled away from the hug, tears still rolling down her cheeks, and gave the most intimidating look she could – which, since her eyes were still far from dried out, wasn’t that intimidating. “Don’t _ever_ scare me like that again, young man! You didn’t even know you _had_ a quirk! What made you think that was a good idea?!”

Izuku hung his head and gave a sheepish smile, knowing there was no way to argue or explain the situation to her properly without making her worry more. “I’m sorry, Mom. I won’t do it again; I promise.”

It was the best he could come up with; even so, his mom didn’t seem to lighten up at all. “You say that now –” her lips began to tremble – “but I worry you won’t be able to keep that promise.” She slowly meandered back into the house, shoulders slouched and hands in the pockets of her pink knitted jacket. “I mean, with how much you aspire to be a hero, a part of me thinks you might jump in every time you see someone in danger.”

Izuku’s heart sank again upon hearing how downtrodden her voice became as she said it. He was still her son, so of course she’d be worried, but wasn’t that was heroes did in the first place?

Izuku went up to his mom and hugged her from behind, causing her to let out a gasp as he rested his chin on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Mom. I’m sure the heroes can handle any situation that comes up from now on, even without my help. Besides, Death Arms already gave me a stern warning, so I don’t think it’d be good to risk it again.”

Izuku’s mom paused for a moment, but eventually placed a hand on his forearm. “Izuku…”

Without much warning, Izuku spun her around and showed her the gleam in his eyes. “But I have a quirk now; I can be a hero! I’ll have to work a lot harder than everyone else since it showed up so late, but it’s possible!” He motioned to the gem in his forehead. “I can pull this gem out of my head, and a piece of my psyche emerges and starts fighting! I was too surprised to do anything when I realized what was going on, so I know it can act on its own if I’m stunned or something Do you think I’m able to control it when I know it’s coming? Or maybe it can do more things than just shoot ice? I mean, it has a spear and sword; it should be able to do something with those. But maybe it can use more elements than just ice? Oh! Is there a time limit? A cooldown? Maybe –”

~~~

Izuku’s mom began chuckling to herself as she listened to her son’s rambling. It took a lot of practice over the years, but she was able to understand pretty much everything he was saying now. She also learned not to question where he keeps all those notebooks he pulls out whenever he learns about a new quirk, like the one in his hand right now. It was odd, sure, but it kept life interesting sometimes, like whenever a new hero debuts.

Still, despite her initial blatant worry, she felt a heavy weight lift from her shoulders. Her son had a quirk – a powerful one at that; it had just been dormant until the time was right. But he could finally make friends now that it’s appeared. His bullies would probably stop hurting him. He could finally spend the rest of his childhood normally.

But more importantly – and she felt a bit of guilt for this – she no longer had to hate herself for telling him that he couldn’t be a hero the night he was dubbed quirkless. She was already grateful that it didn’t affect his drive, but she still could never find a way to tell him that she was wrong back then.

Her only regret was that it was too late to tell him she was wrong now.

_Well, it seems like he’s forgiven me anyway,_ she thought. _Now then, it’s about time to make Inko Midoriya’s famous katsudon to celebrate his quirk._

~~~

Izuku immediately headed to his room after his mom dismissed him, still kind of embarrassed he had rambled so much about his Persona as though it was a quirk. He had shared every single possibility he could come up with, and he highly doubted his mom was even able to hear most of it. Besides, even if she seemed interested, she was never interested in heroism; it’s why she never trained her telekinesis quirk, simply registering it as “Attract Small Objects”.

_Plus, it was embarrassing to realize I had pulled out my notebook again._

Izuku glanced down at the notebook he had written in – one of his empty ones he carries around when his other one is destroyed. He had written in his regular handwriting, as usual – which, unfortunately, made things a bit more difficult. He would have to take All Might’s advice and use shorthand.

After searching the web for information on creating an original shorthand, Izuku came up with something that involved both Hiragana and Katakana alphabets. He knew that he wasn’t advanced enough to use shorthand that involved Kanji, nor did he think he’d be able to read it if he used Kanji even after he wrote it, so he stuck with the other two alphabets for now.

He wrote the code on a separate piece of paper, using the white invisible ink pen with a built-in UV light that his dad sent him from overseas last Christmas, then kept the pen aloft over the code and, with the help of the internet and past experience, began writing in his shorthand.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have too much information, and could only write two entries before he got stuck. He’d have to wait a bit longer and learn a bit more about Beowulf’s capabilities before he could continue.

Izuku sat the notebook aside for now, then reached into his desk drawer and pulled out another empty journal, as well as an old one: **Hero Analysis for the Future, Volume 1**. He spent the better part of an hour translating the contents from the old journal into shorthand for the new one and redrawing every picture he had made. He was a quick writer normally, but since each stroke in his shorthand translated to a full letter, he had both more time and more space in his journal.

Just as he finished translating the first volume, a knock on the door pulled Izuku away from his journaling. He glanced toward the door just as his mom opened it inward, the concerned look on her face giving way for a soft smile. “You were writing about quirks again, weren’t you?”

It was a good guess; he always gets so lost when he writes about other people’s quirks that he tunes out the outside world until someone interferes with him directly, or knocks on his bedroom door. And it was technically correct, considering they were the same notes he had written earlier. However, in this instance, “technically correct” didn’t mean “correct”.

Izuku briefly glanced back to the code he had scrawled in his notebook before turning back to his mom. “N-Not really. I realized today that my notes could spell disaster if they got into the wrong hands, so…”

Inko’s face fell. “You were erasing them,” she finished for him.

“What? No. I’d never do that.” Izuku’s face briefly scrunched up as he said this, but soon reconfigured to its normal proportions. “I created a shorthand for my notebooks, and I was transcribing them for future use.” He walked the invisible code and the pen used to write it over to his mom. “See? I even wrote the code in invisible ink so people will think it’s just a blank piece of paper.”

Inko stared at the code for a bit with the help of the UV light from the pen. “I see. I suppose that’s wise, considering how thorough you are with your notes.” She turned her attention back to Izuku. “Anyway, I just came up to tell you dinner’s ready. You got a quirk today –” she rubbed his shoulder – “so I made katsudon to celebrate.”

Izuku’s eyes lit up. “Katsudon?”

“Katsudon.” She squeezed his shoulder. “But you know it’s best served hot, so –”

Izuku sidled past his mom and rushed to the bathroom to wash his hands. He could hold off on his notes for now; his mom made katsudon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Personas: The Heroes Within; Volume 1  **
> 
> **Entry 1: What is a Persona?**
> 
> **A Persona is a mask one wears in various situations to help guide them through life. It begins as a Shadow – untamed power within one’s psyche – but becomes a Persona once controlled by the ego.**
> 
> **In my case, a Persona is a being that lives within my psyche that can assist me in different situations. It is capable of acting on its own, but there is a chance that I can control its actions if I need to.**
> 
> **What’s interesting is that, also in my case, my Shadow appeared before me twice: once before the attack I saved Kacchan from, and again just before it became my Persona. Perhaps it wanted to save me, using what will I still had to change my mind. Possibility that it knows it will die if I do.**
> 
> **Each Persona is linked with one of the Major Arcana of tarot: Magician, Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Strength, Hermit, Fortune, Justice, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgement, or World. Arcana generally don’t matter much, as each Persona differs greatly from each other in terms of abilities; however, there is a specialty that most Persona in each Arcana have, though there are exceptions in each Arcana.**
> 
> **Entry 2: Major Arcana, Sorted by Number**
> 
> **0, Fool: Represents the beginning of a journey. Wild Card; allows for multiple Personas of various strengths and weaknesses if it’s the Arcana that best describes a person.**
> 
> **1, Magician: Represents Inspired Action. Further Information Required**
> 
> **2, Priestess: Represents Intuition and Knowledge. Further Information Required**
> 
> **3, Empress: Represents Femininity and Beauty. Further Information Required**
> 
> **4, Emperor: Represents Masculinity and Structure. Further Information Required**
> 
> **5, Hierophant: Represents Tradition and Conformity. Further Information Required**
> 
> **6, Lovers: Represents Love, Harmony, and Relationships. Currently one of the scariest Arcana. Further Information Required**
> 
> **7, Chariot: Represents Control, Willpower, and Determination. Probably Kacchan’s Arcana. Further Information Required**
> 
> **8, Strength: Represents Courage, Strength, and Compassion. Save compassion, I’m honestly surprised this is my Arcana. Power generally lies in physical strength. May extend to endurance and durability as well.**
> 
> **9, Hermit: Represents Introspection and Inner Guidance. Further Information Required**
> 
> **10, Fortune: Represents Good Luck and Turning Points. Further Information Required**
> 
> **11, Justice: Self-explanatory in terms of its representation. Further Information Required**
> 
> **12, Hanged Man: Represents Surrender and New Perspectives. Further Information Required**
> 
> **13, Death: Represents Endings, Change, and Transition in life. Further Information Required**
> 
> **14, Temperance: Represents Balance and Patience. Further Information Required**
> 
> **15, Devil: Represents the Shadow Self, Addiction, and Sexuality. Probably best to avoid those with this Arcana if possible. Further Information Required**
> 
> **16, Tower: Represents Sudden Upheaval and Chaos. Further Information Required**
> 
> **17, Star: Represents Hope, Renewal, and Purpose. Further Information Required**
> 
> **18, Moon: Represents Hesitation and Mystery. Further Information Required**
> 
> **19, Sun: Represents Positivity, Warmth, and Vitality. Further Information Required**
> 
> **20, Judgement: Represents Absolution and one’s Inner Calling. Further Information Required**
> 
> **21, World: Represents Completion and Accomplishment. People with this Arcana are probably the happiest. Further Information Required**
> 
> **Further entries will cover Beowulf and any other Persona I get/see in the future, in the order I receive them.**


End file.
